Thermal printers are well known in which information is recorded on a thermo-sensitive record carrier, such as a sensitized paper, by means of selectively heated printheads in heat transfer relationship with the thermo-sensitive record carrier. The printheads generally consist of electrical resistors in which current is supplied in accordance with signals that are received from discrete storage and buffering circuitry contained in integrated circuit chips bonded to the printhead substrates. The potential mark resolution of these printers is on the order of 50 marks per inch and the number of external connections required for such thermal printers is fairly large, with a system which can print a 5 .times. 7 dot matrix requiring as many as 34 external connections. The fairly low resolution and the number of external connections, in addition to the need to bond integrated circuit chips to the printhead substrate, have substantially curtailed market acceptance of thermal printers.